On the Town: A Mediterranean breeze blew through the Irish Museum of Modern Art this week with the arrival of the renowned Italian artist Francesco Clemente and his wife, Alba.
"Francesco is a very warm, Mediterranean man," said Bono, who opened an exhibition of new works by Clemente. "I felt the heating had just come on . . . There's something about the warmth of this work. He's come to run winter and the melancholy of rain out of town."
Addressing the large gathering of people, which included the Duke of Lugo, who is married to the King of Spain's eldest daughter, the Infanta Elena, Bono told us that the paintings "lifted my spirit . . . Here's an artist who belongs to the wider world and brings this joy to us. Ireland is being dragged down south to the warm Mediterranean".
Unlike rock stars where "it's all about death and destruction", Clemente's paintings are all about joy, he said. "It's very easy to describe despair. It's almost impossible to describe joy."
Among the international visitors at the opening were Bruno Bischofberger, a gallery owner from Zurich; distinguished British artist Howard Hodgkin; German art dealer from Cologne Rafael Jablonka and Italian collector Stefano Dercole, with his son, Carlos.
Many Irish artists were also present, including Camille Souter, Galway-based sculptor John Behan (who has a show based on Ulysses opening in the Hallward Gallery on June 15th), Stephen McKenna, Mick O'Dea, Nick Miller, Rachel Joynt, Peter O'Kennedy, Fergal McCarthy and Richard Mettler.
Writer Gerard Mannix Flynn was welcomed by many as the most recently appointed IMMA board member. Olive Braiden, chairwoman of the Arts Council, was greeted by her predecessor Patrick Murphy, who was there with his son, Bryan, of the Peppercanister Gallery.
Arts Council members Chris Flynn, Noelle Campbell-Sharpe and Patrick Sutton, also came to enjoy the new works by Clemente.
Francesco Clemente: New Works runs at IMMA until April 25th